Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Parlier, California » San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center » Crop Diseases, Pests and Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #392949
Research Project: Development of Applied Management Systems for Diseases of Perennial Crops with Emphasis on Vector-Borne Pathogens of Grapevine and Citrus

Location: Crop Diseases, Pests and Genetics Research

Title: Effects of a previous bacterial, fungal, or nematode infection of grapevine on the success of a subsequent fungal infection and associated changes in host chemistry

Author
item Wallis, Christopher

Submitted to: American Phytopathological Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/15/2022
Publication Date: 11/1/2022
Citation: Wallis, C.M. 2022. Effects of a previous bacterial, fungal, or nematode infection of grapevine on the success of a subsequent fungal infection and associated changes in host chemistry. American Phytopathological Society Abstracts.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Grapevines, like all plants, encounter multiple simultaneous infections throughout their lifetimes. Among these are infections by Xylella fastidiosa (Xf), the causal agent of Pierce’s disease, various fungal infections that cause grapevine trunk diseases, such as Neofusicoccum parvum (Np), and infections by the root knot nematode (RKN), Meloidogyne spp. Despite the chance of known co-infections, it remains unclear how one infection might affect another, subsequent infection. Likewise, not much is known about potential changes in host chemistry from an original infection that could impact the development of a secondary infection. Thus, this study examined changes in stem levels of phenolics, amino acids, and sugars in non-infected plants or those infected with Xf, Np, or RKN immediately prior to infecting them with a distinct, subsequent Np infection. Associations between compound levels at the time of the secondary inoculation of Np with resultant lesion lengths were made. Overall, phenolic levels were significantly greater in plants initially infected with Np than controls. However, phenolic levels were not significantly correlated with NP lesion sizes. These results suggested Np is able to overcome the antibiotic impacts of phenolics once established. Overall, these results shed light into what may happen when plants experience multiple infections at once.